Obama to return 5 percent of salary to Treasury

Updated 9:37 pm, Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Photo: Susan Walsh

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President Barack Obama walks to greet people after arriving at Buckley Air Force Base in Colo.,Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Obama is meeting with local law enforcement officials and community leaders to discuss the state's new measures to reduce gun violence. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama walks to greet people after arriving at Buckley Air Force Base in Colo.,Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Obama is meeting with local law enforcement officials and community leaders to discuss

Marines salute as President Barack Obama jogs off of the Marine One helicopter before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday April 3, 2013, en route to Colorado. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) less

Marines salute as President Barack Obama jogs off of the Marine One helicopter before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday April 3, 2013, en route to Colorado. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn ... more

Photo: Jacquelyn Martin

Obama to return 5 percent of salary to Treasury

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WASHINGTON — Sharing a bit of budget pain, President Barack Obama will return 5 percent of his salary to the Treasury in a show of solidarity with federal workers smarting from government-wide spending cuts.

Obama's decision grew out of a desire to share in the sacrifice that government employees are making, a White House official said Wednesday. Hundreds of thousands of workers could be forced to take unpaid leave — known as furloughs — if Congress does not reach an agreement soon to undo the cuts.

The president is demonstrating that he will be paying a price, too, as the White House warns of dire economic consequences from the $85 billion in cuts — called a sequester — that started to hit federal programs last month after Congress failed to stop them. In the weeks since, the administration has faced repeated questions about how the White House itself will be affected. The cancellation of White House tours in particular has drawn mixed reactions.

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A 5 percent cut from the president's salary of $400,000 per year amounts to $20,000.